fEELING

It may sound strange, but when it comes to the earth, we are going to have to use it to save it. That is the paradox we now face. I think it is going to be impossible to convince large numbers of people of the necessity of preserving natural communities if they have had no contact with them. Yet our species has grown so prolific on our diet of old sunlight that our numbers alone threaten to fatally wound any natural area that receives us. We are like Lenny and his puppy in Steinbeck's novel. If very many of us start loving it, we may kill it. But in this case, if we don't, it will die anyway, killed by those who never loved it (that may be the ultimate paradox).

The solution to our dilemma appears to be to figure out more and better ways of introducing people to the natural world, then proceed to implement them with great caution. However, before we can figure out the ways, we need to determine exactly what we want folks to take home with them. It's one thing to talk about the importance of cultivating good feelings about nature, but quite another to pin down exactly what those feelings are.

After many years of work in this area, we have concluded in earth education that there are four primary feelings we want people to hold: a joy at being in touch with the elements of life, a kinship with all living things, a reverence for natural communities, and a love for the earth.

Continue... The WHATS: Processing

Earth Education... A New Beginning Copyright © 1990 The Institute for Earth Education. All Rights Reserved.